Hello all this is my latest build of the Kingston mouldings Bristol pilot cutter 'mascotte' was purchased from a forum friend who no longer had time to build it.
Sadly Kingston mouldings has now closed down.
The first job was to glue the lead ballast into the bottom of the hull, this was done by using fibreglass resin then a couple of layers of fibreglass to seal the lead shot into the built in keel

The next job was to fit the bulk heads and the deck shelf strips around the edges.
I had some scrap pieces of 8mm OSB board so I used this for the bulk heads which were glued in place using gorilla glue then fibreglassed in once the glue had gone of. The shelf strips are 10mm square oak that were fixed 6mm below final deck hieght as I will be using 4mm ply for the sub deck followed by 2mm planking strips in walnut and beech.

The strengtheners for where the main mast will be fixed in place through the deck were glued in place with gorilla glue and fibreglassed in once the glue had gone of again this timber was an of cut that was to hand but this needed to be substantial as I would be using 12mm dowel for the main mast.

After fitting the 2 lead gel batteries in place (6v 4mah) either side of the mast support and fitting the electrics the sub deck 4mm ply was fitted and glued in place using gorilla glue.If you hadn't guessed I decided to try using the brown gorilla glue on this build to see how it fairs compared to the usual resin and normal wood glue's and I must admit I have been impressed with the results so far .Sorry no pics of this stage as I forgot to take them at the time.This picture shows the area were most of the electrics will be situated for easy access.

Nothing much was done for a while after this stage due to my health halting the build for about 6 months.
But I have started the build again and decided to post it on here for you all.
The next stage was planking the decking and in whales , the deck is planned in walnut and beech which was glued and pinned to the sub deck using titebond 2 .the in whales were lined with mahogany on the inside and walnut on the outside topped with a walnut top rail made using 5mm square section bent and glued together again with titebond 2.

Thanks Doug it took about 4 weeks in total to complete the planking.
The varnish is Wilko's own brand clear gloss yacht varnish which was sanded with fine wet and dry sand paper between each coat to get that smooth finish on the final coat.
I will show all the hand made fittings next which I have already started making
Ron

Ta for the info Ron 👍I can see you also used bags of my 'secret' ingredient 😉Your choice of woods really does her proud. Shall watch progress with great interest 😊 Cheers, Doug 😎BTW: I believe most of the Kingston moulds were taken over by someone else! Have a record of it somewhere in the 'electronic stash'. Will try and dig it out.

Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug Grant me the Serenity to accept things I can't change, - the Courage to change things that I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference!

Very sad if that did happen 🤔😭Last I heard is that Robin wanted to retire to spend more time with his Missus and go travelling, not to mention his sadly neglected own modelling!He apparently retired in April 2016 and stopped all Mail Order. But retained the moulds with the intention of still making a few hulls To Order BUT for Collection Only! Positively no more Mail Order hectic.Sad if that didn't work out. Cheers Doug 😎

Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug Grant me the Serenity to accept things I can't change, - the Courage to change things that I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference!

here is some of the deck furniture i have made the chimney stack and storage brackets, these are not in the folder and found these after researching the mascotte and finding detailed pictures of the vessel.

he we have the hatch covers that were made earlier the forward hatch covers the power switch and battery charging points.the mid-ships hatch houses the receiver and the main cabin houses the sail and rudder servos.the last picture is just to show with the hatch covers on

Thank you Doug much appreciated this is the build fully caught up now so everything from now on will be as happens.i was advised by frank nylet of nylet sails that robin used to make the hulls for his yacht kits but was told would no longer supply them as no replacement had been found to take over the moulds and as you say is a very sad loss to the modeling would i have always found his hulls to be outstanding quality.would be nice to see those hinges if you get round to making them , i have tried in the past but failed badly but no doubt i will try again one day.

Yep, shame about Kingston, but can understand why Robin didn't want to build for Frank's kits anymore (or anyone else's for that matter) wouldn't fit in with his No Hectic policy!

Re 'tin bashing! Here's a couple of examples of my last attempts from several years ago, from my H Class 1936 destroyer, scale 1/72. I note that they need the years of neglect cleaning off 🤔 I'll pass it off as North Atlantic Convoy duty muck😁First two pics 20mm Oerlikons, made from 0.5mm brass sheet, 1mm copper for the carriage frames and 1 and 2mm brass tube. Guns can elevate 😉 Recoil 'springs' are shrink sleeve, but I now have some suitable real springs. Will try to finish them off when Hotspur comes up for refit completion. Pic 3 is one of the depth charge throwers port side. Core is a 1/4" wood dowel, the rest is 0.5mm brass, tinned copper wire and 2mm brass tube for the firing cylinder. I used John Lambert (RIP) plans for both.Pic 4, the thrower on deck and copper wire ladder rails, crewman shanghaied from Monty's 1/72 Airfix 8th Army. A Desert Rat on board!Under the black square is the hole for the aft torpedo mount. Underneath is the speaker for the "Whoop Whoop". That part of the 'deck' is just painted aircraft silk!Must get back into practise now I've got nowt more important to do 😁Cheers Doug 😎

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Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug Grant me the Serenity to accept things I can't change, - the Courage to change things that I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference!

Nice job there Doug nice detailing , I've not got the fingers for that scale (I have no feeling in end of my fingers ) the smallest scale I've worked on is 1/32 an MMM eurogirl tug and eldergarth tug but had to sell them last year because I couldn't lift them anymore.This Bristol pilot cutter is 1/16 and finding fittings in this scale is getting harder so no choice but to make the fittings my self.But it keeps me busy and some what active

That is very true Ed it was a sad day when my tug's left , they were built to tug as well and had a few trips to balne Moore for the tugging it's what I loved doing. But I'm enjoying this build and looking forward to sailing her for the first time

Excellant work on all you are doing.I've had to downsize and lose some of my heavier boats.They were tugs also.I had to have an emergency hernia operation and the doctor said to take it easy.Still recovering.Looking forward to more of your posts.

Hi all not much has been done over last few days been on a downer with my health which has left me house bound but I'm starting to pick up again so hopefully can get back to building again.I have attached the specs and pics of the original mascotte that I have been using to get the detail info from Ron

Today I have masked of the boat ready for painting when the weather warms up . Materials used where frog masking tape and some paper packaging that came out of the last delivery box from Amazon.Firstly I went round taping of all the fidly bits before completely masking the sides of the hull before applying the paper

Today while waiting for the weather to warm up i have started work on the ships boat which when finished will be 8" in length and a beam of 4". I will be making this using mahogany for the whole boat and the first job was to cut, sand and glue the parts that make up the keel.this was made using 5mmx3mm mahogany sandwiched between 2 lengths of 10mmx2mm mahogany which when finished will give 5mm square keel.i have always found it easier doing it this way rather than try and bend the wood.

The ships boat continuedThe plans of the ships boat is to make it out of paper but I will be using walnut.I have made and cut out the cardboard templates for the ribs and stenciled them onto a walnut sheet , I cut these out using a coping saw and using permagrit sanding blocks to sand to shape after which I will mark the inner line and cut and final shaping to make the ribs their are 5 ribs in total.

ships boat continuedi have got all the ribs cut out and the outer edge sanded within a couple of mm of the marked edge, leaving the last couple of mm for when they are fixed to the keel.(pic1)i then marked out and filed out the notch for the fixing point to the keel using my permagrit needle files.(pic2)finally today i finished with marking out the inner edge of the (pic3) ribs using my makeshift compass using a steel rule as the smooth edge with a couple of wood coffee stirrers as packers (pic4) to get a uniform width for all the ribs held together with a couple of cable ties ready for cutting out and sanding over the weekend.Ron

the ships boat continued today i have finished cutting out the inner of the ribs with my tungsten rod saw.these where filed and sanded with 250 grit and 2500 grit sandpaper.i have dry test fit each of the ribs to be sure of a square true fit before they will be glued.tomorrow i will be making a jig to hold the keel and ribs while the glue goes of and to keep the frame square till planked.pic 1 is of the rod saw usedpic 2 is of the ribs after being filed and sandedpic 3 & 4 is of the dry test fit Ron

ships boat continuedhi all have spent today knocking up a simple jig to hold the keel and ribs of the ships boat while the glue goes off.pic 1 & 2 shows the jig set with the keel in place.pic 3 shows the dry fit test to insure all fits square and true.pic 4 is all the ribs glued to the keel.The rig is made up of pieces of ali angle which was a damaged length from when my greenhouse was delivered last year, all i have done is cut 12 pieces approx 10-15mm wide and drilled 1 hole for fixing to the board.I then marked out the board for where the ribs need to be and fixed two of the brackets for either side of the ribs and used a length of 6x2 beech long enough to be clamped to both angles which was for clamping the ribs too, 1 piece of angle was placed at the front and stern to hold the keel square to the board which is a scrap bit of OSB.Each rib was dry fitted to the keel for any fine tuning using a set square to insure square and true, once i was happy with the results i dismantled it and refitted glueing the ribs in place again double checking with the set square to check for any movement in the jig.

That's correct Doug each plank needs to be shaped and sealed as you go. This will be my first clinker hull and just hoping not to many mistakes happen and don't need to scrap it and start again but that's model building 😵 .Don't worry Doug I won't be sanding the clinkers out its took me long enough to find out the details of the ships boat as no info in the plans Ron

I had to open my mouth yesterday didn't I 😭 this morning I took of the clamps to file of the excess glue and dropped the frame onto the floor knocking one of the ribs of 💩so I have had to re-glue the rib back on again so will be starting the blanking tomorrow now.i have included a couple of pics of the boat frame before I dropped it.😱😱

ships boat plankingwell the first 2 planks have been fitted today and things went better than expected, guess that is from making sure everything was squared up yesterday 😎 well that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it 😜

Ships boat continuedHi all the planking is coming along slowly have just attached the fourth plank on either side.Thanks to hammer's excellent clinker build and advice I am starting to get the hang of this.The only problem I am having at the moment is working out the length of the oars , I have some 5mm square section in walnut I thought of machining down to make the oar shafts but unsure of length as these are not on the plans for the ships boat any advice welcome.

Ships boat continuedIt's coming along now almost finished planking the sides just a couple of planks to fit and can then plank the stern.It's certainly been a learning curve doing my first clinker hull and at this size , there has been a few mistakes but that's modelling .

Back to the main hull Have finally got the hull sprayed today with this heat it has been drying faster than I can spray it on 😄Firstly the hull was sanded with a 200grit paper to sand of the shiny coating to give the paint something to key too.It has had three coats of undercoat sanded with 2500grít wet and dry paper between each coat.the undercoat used was Halfords rattle can plastic primer.Then the lower hull colour was sprayed on again three coats sanded with 2500grit paper between each coat.colour used was Halfords rattle can ford arctic blue. the top half of the hull was sprayed with two coats only with it being black plus I didn't have enough paint to give it a third coat😋 colour used was Halfords rattle can satin black.Finally the hull was sprayed with Halfords rattle can clear lacquer three coats sanded with 2500grit paper between each coat.

Thanks Donnieboy it has been 28degrees c here today perfect painting weather.I can now start assembly while waiting for the glue to dry on the ships boat planking, been that warm on my shed I managed to get two planks each side today . Normally have to wait 12hrs between planks.Ron

I've started on getting the fittings fitted now the paints dried and also the sail control line has been fitted and tested.i have used 50lb clear carb fishing line for the control wire so it isn't clearly visible.Last job done today was to fit and test the rudder assembly, all's working as it should👍

The rudder assembly was made using a 200mm prop shaft squared of on the lower 3/4 of the shaft to allow for secure fixing for the rudder made from three layers of 4mm ply.The rudder was fixed to the shaft using 2ton epoxy and held in place with three pieces of brass strip which are bolted through the rudder The prop tube bearings were cut of the ends and fixed into the hull for the rudder shaft , I have also installed rubber o rings to insure no water can come in through the rudder posts.

Hi Ron , I have really enjoyed your build,great wood ,brass and painting skills gives us mere mortals (whittlers)something to aim for .seeing the figure reminded me of your other post, when i next pop into work i will see how there getting on with the figures i was getting scaled up and printed from 1/24 to 1/16 and if there ready post some pictures . Almost forgot what are the dimensions of the build ?. Cheers Marky

Hi marky and thanks for your comments very much appreciated the dimensions for the mascotte are 1140x300x310 (l,w,d) I look forward to seeing the images of the figures when they are done. I did purchase some doll house figures but the adult ones are to large but the child ones you could get away with using them as the adults.Today so far not done to much but fit a few more fittings and make the reach hooks.The reach hooks were made using some 2mm I.d brass tubing which was heated and hammered to shape to make the hooks and attached to some round 2mm pine which was sanded and varnished to finish off.Ron

Today I have made the sails storage frames for when there stored in the rig bag.i've not posted pics yet as don't want to show the sails to early in the build.Has also got some more done with the rigging pulley's ready for starting the time consuming job of the rigging hopefully next week.The second pic shows the removable boom rest that I finished making today and have given it a coat of varnish while it's in position.Ron

Hello all have got some more of the rigging points completed and had to re-do the sail control line after dropping my snips onto the line and it caught the edge and nicked it so had to be replaced as no doubt would have snapped once under strain.The ships boat is coming on nicely , have got the stern planked now and have made a start on cleaning up the glue overspill and sanding it down before fitting the floor and seats .Once finished I will be painting the outside of the hull to match the main hull and varnishing the inside with a yacht varnish.

Way to go man!!!At the risk of becoming monotonous 🤓 Brilliant woodwork and fittings 👍Did you make the pulleys yourself?Looks like stainless, if so Hat Off Sir 👍👍PLEASE DON'T PAINT THAT LOVELY CLINKER BOAT!!😲It would look Soooo good varnished to your usual standard, and I'm pretty sure from the photos of the original that only the canvas cover was blue.Surely the boat itself was varnished. More power to your rigging, Cheers Doug 😎

Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug Grant me the Serenity to accept things I can't change, - the Courage to change things that I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference!

Thanks Doug for your kind words much appreciated, afraid I did cheat when it comes to the pulley's they were purchased from Cornwall model boats .I did think of making them but decided it would take to long to make, although they did cost a few quid .

OK, I admit defeat 🤔Seems the dinghy was painted black with a white lower hull.😆Also doesn't seem to be clinker built!?But since you have clinkered it please don't hide that under black paint 😲Happy deciding, cheers Doug 😎

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Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug Grant me the Serenity to accept things I can't change, - the Courage to change things that I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference!

I think you're right Ron 🤔 only just barely visible - a good argument for NOT painting it black! 😉Fully understand with the pulleys - there are so many of them, would have done the same 👍 Keep up the good work, cheers Doug 😎

Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug Grant me the Serenity to accept things I can't change, - the Courage to change things that I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference!

And so it begins the endless spaghetti that is rigging. As I am using rope and not nylon rigging line I will be stitching the ends of the ropes as I go along so this is going to take more time to complete but I think it will be worth the effort.The boom and yardarm are now in place .

Tug man, as the splicing is taped over. Sized, I can save you a lot of time. Super glue the join, then cover with black heat shrink, Nylon cord will melt. But you should be ok. PS. Twist the joint then super glue. Wear latex gloves. Keep up the very good job. Proper job, they say down here.

Thanks hammer have used the heat shrink like that on a previous boat and i tend to use the grimb tubes for the nylon line.i did think of making the pulleys but just couldn't get my self motivated to do it.i have my next project ready for starting and thinking will have to make everything for this one.

Have had a few days of as it was our clubs AGM last weekend so had a lot of paperwork to sort out.The rigging is coming along now, not rushing this as don't want any mistakes .Each rigging line and block has been stitched using matching thread to the rigging line (pic1) then a length of heat shrink tubing is placed over the stitching (pic2) .Depending how things go over next couple of days I am hoping to have the sails fitted by Monday 😎

thanks figtree7nts and Donnieboy i purchased the anchor from cornwall model boats, i tend to use these for most of my fittings orders as 99% of time they have in stock although they had to order the rigging blocks in for me due to the quantity needed.

At last 95% of the rigging is now complete and I can now announce that it's ready to start fitting the sails 👍 I do still need to decide how to attach the sails so I can de-sail her for transportation.

Nice one 'Cyril' 👍Re transport: how about hinged masts, like the Ship in a Bottle guys??? 😉Fold down for transport - at the pond One 'guy' rope to secure and the whole Shebang stands up ready for action!Easier written as done I know, but wouldn't it be NEAT!? 😁

Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug Grant me the Serenity to accept things I can't change, - the Courage to change things that I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference!

Removing sails. Each model has its own problems hear. First top mast need to be able to lower, important. Main & stay sails remain attached, on my models they can be reefed in the prototype way. Jibs are ease, eyelets in sail hook on cords. The same with topsails if there are mast hoops a little ingenuity is required. I have spaced the hoops on a cord with hooks to the sail top & bottom. The tension on the cord & sail holds them together. Although the sail is not attached to the hoops it doesn’t notice. I often sail reefed down as I do most of my sailing in the winter. To much else to do in summer.

Great build. I'm in the process of building a Mid West Tug Boat and reached the point of needing to place some ballast in the bottom of the hull. I noticed that you used epoxy. I know that epoxy can get hot when curing and if you using a molded hull how do you control the heat issue so as to not warp the hull? I plan on using shot gun shot and been a bit worried about damaging the hull.😁

Hi jbrcfloats and welcome to the mad house.Yes you are correct in saying that epoxy gives of heat while it cures and can cause damage to some of the more flimsy plastic hulls. The best way to be save when using epoxy with these hulls is to use smaller amounts so not to build up to much heat.

Thanks for the great advise. I was thinking about making smaller amounts of the resin so that I could control the heat. Nothing worse that spending a lot of time on the tug and then have the hull destroyed while adding ballast. You guys and gals over there really build beautiful models.

Hi all afraid I had to but the builds on hold for a while again had another flare up with my health but things are settling down again now so hopefully I can get back to finishing this boat and enjoying sailing her for the first time.Ron

Ships boat continuedThe ships boat is almost complete now have got the floor and seats fixed in place ready for sanding and sealing.have got some more of the rigging completed just a few more bits to do before fitting the sails.thanks Doug for your kind words

im back on the job again now ( fingers crossed ) no more flare ups . have got the stand for the ships boat built, varnished and fixed to the boat now, i had to change position of the fixing point for the ships boat because of the sail control wire. I have also got the oars for the ships boat made and given them there first coat of varnish, these were made using some 3mm pine dowel and a scrap piece of 4x2 beech planking strip.have now started on the canvas cover for the ships boat.Ron

Today i have made a start fitting the sails starting with the jib and stay sail just have the sail control wire to fix to them.it has taken most of today just to fit these two as some changes had to be made to some of the rigging lines i had already done but this is my fault trying to get to far ahead of myself rather than being patient.

I find that when the boat is nearing completion I don't always contemplate that there is something I haven't thought through.Just want to get the boat finished and on the water.You're doing a fabulous job on this boat.Waiting to see it on the water.I have been following the construction.Excellant workmanship.

Have got the main sail finally fitted after some minor length adjustment on some of the rigging Pic 1 shows the hand made curtain rings made using 1mm brass rod.Pic 2 shows mid way through threading the rope along the boom.Ron

Brillo 👍 Hat off Sir 😉May be asking your help some time about re-rigging the mess of a fish cutter I inherited. Just took her apart and started renovating the hull.Wotta mess 🤔😲 More filler than wood and stern made from a cardboard tape reel 😡 Last pic is roughly what she should look like!

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Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug Grant me the Serenity to accept things I can't change, - the Courage to change things that I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference!

Thanks Ron appreciate that👍Looks like it'll be a while before I get that far but I'm sure I'll be coming back to you.Not the least because I am converting a (badly built🤔) static model to RC and have an ambition to make the sails work as well. I know, NUTS!😁But then, aren't we all just a little 😉 Cheers, Doug 😎

Young at heart - slightly older in other places 😉 Cheers Doug Grant me the Serenity to accept things I can't change, - the Courage to change things that I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference!